Winter jellies wiggle in the woods

Island Wild for Fri. Feb. 26, 2010






Witches’ Butter is an irregular lobed mass of golden jelly.

Resembling amethyst, this Purple Jelly disc fungus grows alongside the Campbell River. Photos Christine Scott.

Most children love Jell-O and other gelatinous desserts. This jiggly treat almost dances on the plate, and since its launch in 1902, J-E-L-L-O has been a family favourite.

Colourful jellies can also be found in the forest. Just the concept of finding wiggly jellies out-of-doors is enough to send folks rushing out on nature trails, with the young ones singing “J-E-L-L-Y” in that familiar rising five-note theme.

Jelly fungi are simply mushrooms with a different texture, and colours that span the entire rainbow. Not all mushrooms have gills; jelly mushrooms resemble their food counterpart, but have no stem, gills or visible pores. But as with other mushrooms, jelly fungi lack chlorophyll, feed on organic matter, and reproduce through spores.

A jelly-like consistency defines them when wet, but they can dry up and turn rubbery and convoluted. When it rains, these magical little jellies slurp up the water, and take back their original soft, wiggly shapes.

Alongside the Campbell River, we found half-a-dozen clumps of bright orange jelly fungus, little purple disc jellies, and white jelly tooth. These strange fungi can appear on a tree branch, a bed of moss or rotting tree trunk.

When a bright purple blob on some dead wood caught my eye, we were thrilled to discover the Purple Jelly disc fungus (Ascocoryne sarcoides), a species that very much resembles the gemstone amethyst.

Arguably the most conspicuous and common jelly fungus, Witches’ Butter (Tremella mesenterica), is a jiggler of many names, including Yellow Brain Fungus, or Golden Jelly Fungus. An edible, year-round find, this species prefers to grow on deciduous wood, especially alder, and varies in colour from orange to yellow to almost red when dry.

A similar species, Orange Jelly (Dacrymyces palmatus), also forms a brain-like, lobed mass, but with a white basal attachment. This edible species grows year-round, but prefers coniferous wood.

In some countries, jellied mushrooms are harvested, powdered, and sold as medicine or soup flavouring. Researchers believe Pig’s Ear (Wood Ear) jelly mushroom (Auricularia auricula) may contain anti-cancer properties.

Some –not all – jelly fungi are edible, but very few are toxic. Nevertheless, always teach little ones to be suspicious of mushrooms; the childhood habit of nibbling on things in the outdoors could be disastrous if the ‘things’ turn out to be toxic mushrooms. Always wash hands thoroughly after touching wild mushrooms.

Mushrooming is a wonderful family activity, and finding a spoonful of marmalade on a tree branch is pure fun. Until the spring wildflowers begin blooming, our woodland jellies await discovery in all their jiggly glory.

Meet high speed racers and songbird chasers.

Island Wild for February 12, 2010.


This three-year-old Bald Eagle is just beginning to show adult colouration, such as white tail feathers. Photo Jim Dubois.

It’s eagle time again in Rivercity. Love is in the air as the bald eagles renew their pair bonds, repair their nests and begin mating season. This time-honoured ritual takes place every year around Valentine’s Day ... and everyone can celebrate with the eagles.
‘Eaglefest’ – Campbell River’s annual feather festival –set for Saturday, February 20, draws hundreds of bird-lovers intent on taking a close-up look at the objects of their affection. It’s where people meet the birds and birds pose pretty for all the nice people.
We’re talking really big birds here – the avian kingdom’s high speed racers and songbird chasers. This is a once-a-year opportunity to see live birds of prey (raptors) for viewing and photographs. All under one roof (with their handlers), a live hawk, barred owl, burrowing owl and eagle will show off their stunning feathers, beaks and claws.
Just about every local raptor-ous organization will attend. Pacific Northwest Raptors from Duncan returns this year with a flying demonstration of one of their birds of prey, and “Harrison” the mascot will fly in from the Fraser Valley Bald Eagle Festival.
Marvel at the size of a mounted snowy owl and other life-like wildlife species in Steve Howard’s extensive taxidermy display. All manner of educational exhibits turn Eaglefest into a day at the bird zoo.
On hand to talk about what interests us most – BIRDS – will be Dr. Rob Butler, well known author, conservationist and ornithologist, and Vancouver Island birder Guy Monte (Brant Monitoring Project). Experts galore will be on hand to answer your questions.
New this year is an Eaglefest photo contest, sponsored by Photo Tech fotosource, with prizes for youth and adults in two categories - Vancouver Island Wildlife and Vancouver Island Birds. Deadline is tomorrow (Saturday, February 13); $10 entry fee includes your 8x10 mounted photo. Contact 250-286-1233 or email phototech@fotosource .com.
This annual fundraiser for Mountainaire Avian Rescue Society guarantees a wild and wonderful day for all ages. Plan to attend and help support bird rescue and wildlife rehabilitation by the good people at MARS.
EAGLEFEST: Saturday, February 20. 10am – 3:30 pm. Admission $5 single/$10 family. Memberships sold at door. Maritime Heritage Centre (Discovery Pier). For more information, contact MARS at (250) 337-2021 or visit their website: www.wingtips.org.

A weekend dedicated...to the birds we love

Island Wild for February 5, 2010







Nature and birds. If you love them, mark next weekend on the calendar. The 13th annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is just one week away. For four wonderful days (Friday, February 12, through Monday, February 15), we can all sit back and admire the feathered objects of our affection.

Practice makes perfect, and the birds in backyards this week will likely still be there next weekend. Sharpening up those bird ID skills is a fun way to spend the week leading up to February’s birdcount, and there’s no better time to take a closer look, and write their names down.

Bird watchers of all ages and abilities may participate in this free four-day event by counting local birds in backyards and parks, or down by the shore. A good place to start is by checking out the GBBC website (www.birdsource.org/gbbc). This comprehensive and educational site features an online bird guide, a section on tricky IDs and bird-feeding tips.

A complete ‘British Columbia – coastal checklist’ of local birds may be printed from the website. Then learn how to distinguish one “little brown bird” from another by clicking on ‘Learn about birds.’

Avian populations are always shifting and changing due to habitat loss, climate change, disease, or other factors. So scientists count on birdwatchers for an overall “snapshot” of North America’s mid-winter birds.

Birdcount results help researchers at Cornell’s Ornithology Lab and National Audubon Society learn where the winter birds are, how they’re doing—and how to protect them.

Every participant’s submission will be entered into a draw for nature prizes, including bird feeders, binoculars, books, and CDs. Photo buffs can try their luck in the GBBC photo contest by uploading images taken during the count.

Even if you can only ID a few species, taking part is a fun way to get family, friends, students and nature groups involved, and help birds—all at the same time. And birdcounts present a wonderful opportunity to learn a few more.

Counting birds is as easy as 1, 2, 3. Simply observe for at least 15 minutes on one or more days during the event, keeping a separate list of birds for each day.

For each type of bird you see, count the most you see at any one time (to make sure you don’t accidentally count the same bird twice). Then enter your results online at www.birdcount.org/gbbc and check the provincial map to watch your community’s progress.

Last year, birders in 142 British Columbia communities participated, recording a whopping 193 different species. B.C. also earned a spot in the coveted North American Top Ten – the only Canadian province to do so. For more information, visit www.birdcount.org.

BACKYARD BIRD POSTER: Now at Courtenay’s Laughing Oyster, Campbell River Museum’s giftshop, and Coho Books. E-mail: wildernesswest@shaw.ca.

New Year’s facelift underway for Oyster River trail

Island Wild for Fri. Jan. 8, 2010

Vancouver Island’s only native squirrel, the Red Squirrel must increasingly compete with the imported Gray Squirrel.

Some nature parks lose their lustre in the coldest months, with deciduous trees bereft of foliage, wildflowers absent, and many woodland critters snoozing in their dens.
One noteworthy exception is Oyster River Nature Park, one of the area’s premiere winter destinations, where trees reach up to touch the sky. A bevy of animals including Red Squirrels, Coastal Black-tailed Deer and Little Brown Bats make this forest their home.
This dense five hectare (12 acre) wedge of old- and second-growth forest nestles between the Oyster River (near its estuary), the Strait of Georgia and the former UBC farmlands. One of the area’s most charming sandy beaches is located just a short stroll from the park trailhead.
Major changes are underway for the popular park, located midway between Campbell River and Courtenay. Better trailhead signage, more interpretive information and new cedar fencing will all enhance visitor enjoyment of the park, which already attracts about a hundred users daily, says Peter Woods, Parks Coordinator, Strathcona Regional District.
“These trails are suitable for all demographics,” says Woods, noting that families, joggers, seniors and dog-walkers all seem to enjoy Oyster River park.
One improvement already in place is a new wooden footbridge over the old channel – an amenity that turned a popular pathway into a loop trail – always a desirable option for users. The park’s woodland, heavily logged 60-70 years ago, still boasts impressive specimens of old-growth Douglas-fir and Bigleaf Maple.

Photo buffs will find dozens of winter nature subjects alongside the four major trails within this park. Mosses and lichens become shining delights when no leaves mask their beauty; rows of pores on coppery cherry bark resemble amber jewels; Rattlesnake Plantain orchid leaves look vivid in striped white and green.
A daytime nature walk may include a peek at the wild Red Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) – the only squirrel native to Vancouver Island. These shy charmers are active by day, even in cold weather, foraging primarily on seeds and cones.
The smaller ‘Red’ averaging 230 grams, must now expend energy to defend its territory against the Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) – an introduced species twice its size – which continues a troubling northward expansion on Vancouver Island. The Red Squirrel is protected as a furbearer under the BC Wildlife Act (Yellow-listed).
Oyster River Nature Park falls within the jurisdiction of Strathcona Regional District, maintained under the stewardship of Oyster River Enhancement Society.
Check out the improvements at Oyster River Nature Park. From the Old Island Highway, take Regent Road east to the parking area, located across from the Glenmore Road intersection.

Smurfs and gnomes and scary ‘shrooms
Island Wild for Fri. Oct. 30, 2009

The eye-popping Fly Agaric mushroom creates a great Halloween vignette as a gnome umbrella or spider floor. Photo Jim Dubois.

This most notorious Amanita (muscaria) gained fame as the classic toadstool of Alice in Wonderland. Photo Jim Dubois.

On October 31st, scores of little spooks and goblins will be out ringing doorbells during the annual Halloween candy blitz. It’s a fun season, and imaginations run wild with decorations of spiders, webs, ghosts, witches, and other scary props.

It’s also a good time to remember that some of planet Earth’s most frightening organisms are not made of plastic; they’re living out in the lawn, alongside a favourite nature trail or even in a local schoolyard.

Picture a blood-red flying saucer with white windows; or a red umbrella coated with pale patches. Of all the mushroom photos and enquiries that arrive in my inbox, none are more plentiful than the bright red and gravely toxic Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria).

Once upon a time, this mushroom found favour as an insecticide, crushed in a saucer of milk to attract flies, which became stupefied and drowned, thus the common names: Fly Agaric or Fly Amanita.

This most notorious Amanita first gained fame as the classic toadstool of Alice in Wonderland, and then a whole new generation became fans when it was chosen as the shape of the puffy-roofed Smurf house.

Every October, as if on cue, this eye-popping and unmistakable late-fruiting fungus springs up out of the ground to delight and fascinate mushroom enthusiasts and curious passers-by alike. Whether in green grass or on the woodland floor, it’s virtually impossible to miss the shocking stop-sign colouration.


Amanita muscaria is a gilled mushroom coloured deep red (sometimes orange-red) with a convex to flat cap often sprinkled with flaky white patches (of veil remnant). In its early stages, this species emerges as a rounded button-top, soon growing to a very large, flattened saucer-shape up to 25 cm (10 in) across.

Although this species is distinct and easy to identify, one way to verify is to make a spore print. Place a mushroom cap (stem removed) gill-side down on a piece of black art paper and cover with a glass bowl for several hours or overnight.

The microscopic white dust-like particles that fall from the gills are known as spores – the fungus’s reproductive parts. And while Amanita muscaria produces white spores, other species produce spores of different colours.

This brightly coloured beauty is arguably the most famous of all toxic mushrooms, and the Amanita family includes the most deadly wild mushrooms in the world. Amanita virosa is the main cause of fatalities, but many other members of the genus are poisonous to some degree.

Incredibly, poisonings from ingesting Amanita muscaria or other Amanitas are very common, despite the fact that mycologists stress no species of genus Amanita should ever be consumed.

Fungophobes can rest assured that toxic fungi species can actually be fun…especially at Halloween. Just don’t eat them…don’t even nibble.

E-mail Christine at: wildernesswest@shaw.ca

A bush-whacking visit to fungi heaven Oct. 16, 2009

Island Wild for Fri. Oct. 16, 2009

Boletes (most of them edible) resemble a hamburger bun on a thick stalk. Photo Christine Scott

I thought it would be an easy walk in the park. Instead, I found myself crashing through the bush, shoulder-deep in salal and huckleberry shrubs, brushing cobwebs from my face as I tried to keep my footing on wet, moss-covered rocks and roots.

Such is the lot of a serious mushroom hunter, and on a Saturday morning in early October, some 20-plus fungi aficionados took part in a mushroom walk led by veteran mushroom man Sequoia Lesosky. We were looking for killers and lobsters and kings and queens…and seeking to tell them apart.

We headed into Campbell River’s Beaverlodge Forest, just kitty-corner to the Hilchey-Dogwood intersection, at first along a well-worn pathway…then off-trail and deep into fungi heaven.

“Mushrooms,” Lesosky explained, “are the fruiting body, much like the apple on an apple tree.” The mushroom we see – the fruit body – is only the reproductive part of the fungus organism.The vegetative state of fungi are thread-like structures called mycelia, hidden deep within soil, bark or moss.

Almost instantly, our guide finds an innocuous-looking white mushroom called Destroying Angel (Amanita virosa) – a deadly species which, if ingested, will kill in 24 hours. Lesosky warns it is very common locally. The stem at the base is bulbous and enclosed in a baglike volva…a distinguishing feature of the deadly Amanita family.

Our ultimate quarries though, are the edible varieties, primarily the bright orange-red, seafood-scented lobster mushroom (Hypomyces lactifluorum). Unique and unmistakable, lobsters grow in patches, peeking out from under a moss carpet under old-growth or second-growth forest.

Lobster mushrooms usually begin life as white russula or lactarius mushrooms. Under certain conditions, a mold-like parasitic fungus completely covers its host mushroom with a vivid orange-red coating that obliterates the gills. It’s considered a meaty and prime edible, but care must be taken to assure the host species. But waste no time: according to Lesosky, the lobsters “Come up fast and go bad fast.”

Another sought-after edible, the boletes, feature a spongy underside with round pores instead of gills (the Dutch call them “squirrels’ bread”). Looking every bit like a hamburger bun on a thick stalk, boletes (porcini) are easy to identify and represent the safest mushroom family to find and eat. King and queen bolete flesh retains its white colour when cut. Dreams of creamed porcini on toast fill the air…or at least imaginations.

Most mushrooms are symbiotic with certain trees, and can usually be found beneath them. Short-stemmed russulas and coral mushrooms, for example, love to live beneath fir trees.

Long ago, aboriginal groups realized the value of mushrooms and utilized them in various ways. Even the humble, woody polypore of “artist’s conk” fame was once dried and used to carry fire or to make dye.

In autumn, edible mushrooms in a variety of shapes and sizes hide in every forest: boletes, cauliflowers, chanterelles, chicken-of-the-woods, oysters and even a cup-shaped fungus called orange peel.

According to Lesosky, this fall should turn out to be a very good mushroom season. Good places to forage include: Crown Land, Loveland Bay, Beaverlodge Lands and the Snowden Forest. Seek permission if foraging on inactive woodlots. Safety hints: Always use a compass; carry a lighter (to make fire) and a knife.